Friday, May 28, 2010

Once in a while I do take the liberty to enjoy some fast foods, let me be very frank with you. The experience is always rewarding in couple of ways when it comes to the point of learning new things. Now in my recent visit I suddenly observed something very unusual; both me and my wife finished the whole meal in hardly 10 minutes. We soon found out it is not just me but many customers ate their meals at a great pace. Is that healthy? I remember my grandmother speaking about eating each morsel 32 times so that each tooth gets its share of chewing. The whole idea was to make us eat slowly, and then what happen to us suddenly. But then is it healthy to eat slowly, looking carefully on this topic here are some reasons why to eat slowly and what are its benefits?

Why to Eat Slowly?

1] To Chew Your Food Properly :
Although this a reason for small kids it is true to the fact , that as you eat slowly you tend to chew each and every morsel of your food properly so to start the digestion process properly. Chewing is an action where saliva is added to the food particle which makes the food eaten a little moist for further digestion.

2] To Digest Well:
The mechanism of digestion starts in mouth and if you are one who eats fast one often tends to engulf a large amount of air as you eat. This air that is engulfed is going to create trouble in your body and thus affect your digestion with bloating and other issues. To avoid this why not slow down your meals.

3] To Savour the Food well:
Hey I know we all love our mother's meal or we do like to enjoy once in a while a nice meal at a very expensive exotic restaurant. Here to enjoy the food we try to eat slowly to enjoy the food. We try to savour it, taste it well, and keep it in memory. Why not each and every day meal? Try to enjoy your meal.

4] To lose Weight:
Do you know that it takes 20 minutes for our brain to register that our stomach is full. And now if we eat fast how are we going to register that. More and more studies have shown this amazing result that as we eat slowly we tend to eat fewer calories and thus end up losing weight. It is said that one can lose around 20 pounds in one year simply by eating slowly.

5] To avoid Heart Burn :Researchers have linked gastroesophagul reflux or in lay man terms heart burns in healthy individuals due to fast eating lifestyle. Then why do you need Rantac or thumbs or any other over the counter medicine for heart burn. Just try to eat slowly and see the results.

6] Zen meditation:
Why to take a separate time off for every day meditation in this busy fast paced world. Zen eating or mindful eating would be a good way to do a nice meditation session every day. To eat mindfully one need to eat slowly and enjoy each and every morsel of food. This could be one reason why one was not allowed to chat during a family days in few cultures.

7] Prevention from Diabetes, Heart Diseases: Researchers in Japan have confirmed that eating very rapidly could increase insulin resistance of the body. It means that one is more vulnerable to face diabetes in such conditions. Same is seen true with heart diseases and other metabolic syndromes like high cholesterol, high blood pressure.

So can we slow down our eating speed? What can be done to slow down our speed, let me know if you know some ideas to eat slowly? I would love to hear back from you all. One Indian saying makes it very clear how to do it, it says “Drink you food and chew your drink". I am about to do that, how about you?

Once in a while I do take the liberty to enjoy some fast foods, let me be very frank with you. The experience is always rewarding in couple of ways when it comes to the point of learning new things. Now in my recent visit I suddenly observed something very unusual; both me and my wife finished the whole meal in hardly 10 minutes. We soon found out it is not just me but many customers ate their meals at a great pace. Is that healthy? I remember my grandmother speaking about eating each morsel 32 times so that each tooth gets its share of chewing. The whole idea was to make us eat slowly, and then what happen to us suddenly. But then is it healthy to eat slowly, looking carefully on this topic here are some reasons why to eat slowly and what are its benefits?

Why to Eat Slowly?

1] To Chew Your Food Properly :
Although this a reason for small kids it is true to the fact , that as you eat slowly you tend to chew each and every morsel of your food properly so to start the digestion process properly. Chewing is an action where saliva is added to the food particle which makes the food eaten a little moist for further digestion.

2] To Digest Well:
The mechanism of digestion starts in mouth and if you are one who eats fast one often tends to engulf a large amount of air as you eat. This air that is engulfed is going to create trouble in your body and thus affect your digestion with bloating and other issues. To avoid this why not slow down your meals.

3] To Savour the Food well:
Hey I know we all love our mother's meal or we do like to enjoy once in a while a nice meal at a very expensive exotic restaurant. Here to enjoy the food we try to eat slowly to enjoy the food. We try to savour it, taste it well, and keep it in memory. Why not each and every day meal? Try to enjoy your meal.

4] To lose Weight:
Do you know that it takes 20 minutes for our brain to register that our stomach is full. And now if we eat fast how are we going to register that. More and more studies have shown this amazing result that as we eat slowly we tend to eat fewer calories and thus end up losing weight. It is said that one can lose around 20 pounds in one year simply by eating slowly.

5] To avoid Heart Burn :Researchers have linked gastroesophagul reflux or in lay man terms heart burns in healthy individuals due to fast eating lifestyle. Then why do you need Rantac or thumbs or any other over the counter medicine for heart burn. Just try to eat slowly and see the results.

6] Zen meditation:
Why to take a separate time off for every day meditation in this busy fast paced world. Zen eating or mindful eating would be a good way to do a nice meditation session every day. To eat mindfully one need to eat slowly and enjoy each and every morsel of food. This could be one reason why one was not allowed to chat during a family days in few cultures.

7] Prevention from Diabetes, Heart Diseases: Researchers in Japan have confirmed that eating very rapidly could increase insulin resistance of the body. It means that one is more vulnerable to face diabetes in such conditions. Same is seen true with heart diseases and other metabolic syndromes like high cholesterol, high blood pressure.

So can we slow down our eating speed? What can be done to slow down our speed, let me know if you know some ideas to eat slowly? I would love to hear back from you all. One Indian saying makes it very clear how to do it, it says “Drink you food and chew your drink". I am about to do that, how about you?